


I Need to Know

by jendavis



Category: Leverage
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-19
Updated: 2010-11-19
Packaged: 2017-10-13 07:10:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/134393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jendavis/pseuds/jendavis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"If you're thinking of leaving, you'd better say so."  The fallout of a job gone sideways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Need to Know

Sometimes, the job got a little more up close and personal than they liked. The fights got too close, the case hit too hard.

Sometimes it was something else entirely.

\---

  
Eliot can hear Nate haranguing Alec over the comms, telling him all the ways he'd risked the entire crew.  He can hear Sophie's obvious dismay at his behavior.

"You let it go too far," she says, and the bitch of it was, well. She's not wrong.

Parker slides into the passenger seat and says nothing when Eliot peels out, a little rougher than necessary. He can feel her eyes on him for the first mile or so, but then her attention shifts to the scenery passing outside the window. The only indication that she's not entirely focused on the skyscraper lights is the vehemence with which she removes her earpiece when Nate starts up again.

Like _Nate_ had any reason to be pissed.

He'd planned it well, but nobody had counted on the mark's ex-boyfriend's showing up at the scene before Alec did the . Hadn't accounted for the stirrings of a domestic dispute, or the fact that the only way around it was for Alec to get out without breaking cover.

Nobody had foreseen that he'd have to take Jeanette with him.

Alec had gone off comms, this was the dispute Nate was railing about now, and it was hypocritical, maybe, yeah, but if Alec had kept them on, the situation would have been worse.  

As it was, Parker had gotten out of the studio with the masters, Eliot's making good time, and Sophie and Nate are waiting at the record company's office.

Right now, on the other side of town, Alec is slipping out of someone else's hotel room.

"It's the job. He did what he had to do," Eliot interrupts Nate, trying to convey _if anyone should be complaining, it's me_ , without actually coming out and _saying_ so. Part of him doesn't want to force the issue, doesn't want the others to know that this was hitting him. The other part of him, the part he's trying not to focus on, is that he doesn't want to let Alec off so easily.

  
He'd take a bullet for any of them, but he's not going to defend him, not now.

Tom Petty is low on the car radio, singing "I need to know," and any other day, Eliot would have cranked it up, but he doesn't need this shit right now. He's careful when he shuts it off, though. It's not like the damned radio's psychic, not like Tom fucking Petty is singing about _him_.

 _Fuck_ , this had been a bad idea, right from the start, and Eliot should have known from the minute Nate decided to let Alec break out the gear from when he'd been playing the Ice Man.

It had become a _worse_ idea when he'd woken to find Alec in the living room, easing smoothly through some song, his voice a rapid clipped monotone as he talked about sawed off shotguns and tires peeling out like it came naturally, like it was something he did every day of the week.

"Grew up wanting to be my cousin. Didn't turn out that way," Alec had explained, pouring himself some cereal with a grin, later, when Eliot had asked him about it. "Hacked Paris's computer last night for the clips. The artist, not the country. So long as we clear out before the hype spreads, we're cool."

Alec impressing him wasn't anything new, but this time, it had meant putting him in the front lines, where Eliot couldn't go. He hated it.

He just hadn't known how _much_ he'd hate it until Jeanette's voice came too close over the mic, teasing Alec about his _rep_ , about putting his money where his mouth was. About how if he was hard, he'd best come out and _prove_ it, because she didn't have time for any _fake shit_.

And then the bitch had made it a stipulation. She'd call the record company and have her assistant shred the contract.

Another hour or two, and it wouldn't have been an issue. It was all just the _timing_.

So Alec did what any of them would have done. He'd taken one for the team.

\-----

After dropping Parker off so she can get the recordings to Sophie, Eliot heads over to Alec's apartment.  He's halfway through picking the lock when he remembers that he's had a key for months, now. Even with the delay, he beats Alec inside by ten minutes.

\--- 

  
Alec's not thrilled to see him, that much is clear, but there's a nervousness there that Eliot, for some reason, Eliot hadn't been expecting. "Don't-" he says, when Eliot starts towards him, and raises a hand to fend him off.  It feels like the biggest insult in the world.

But maybe it shouldn't be. Eliot's not sure he doesn't want to punch him or shout or _what_.

"I'm sorry." Alec drops his bag to the floor, tired. Clearly, he doesn't want to be having this discussion any more than Eliot does. "Five minutes. I need a shower, before..."

Eliot nods, though he doesn't know what Alec means, not really, and doesn't watch as Alec turns the corner, heading for the bathroom. He's surprised, though, to find that he's moved towards it himself, that he's followed even this far.

The shower comes on, and on the other side of the door, Alec's stripping down, out of the gangbanger costume, and the shower door is sliding shut, and he's washing that bitch off of him. He can use all the soap he wants, but she's going to be hanging there, between them for a while.

 _And if Alec hadn't been an idiot, if he'd gotten out of there before her man showed up_ -

If he hadn't, they'd be dealing with an entirely _different_ mess right now.

Eliot still would've had to listen to Nate's complaints over the phone, but they would have been different complaints. _Worse_.  He would have had to listen to Alec _fight_ , probably _lose_ , and he _still_ would have been on the wrong side of town to do anything about it.

Eliot stops himself before he can think of other things he would have heard.

The shower turns off, and a moment later, he can hear Alec brushing his teeth, and the only reason Eliot's alive today is because he's always the one to get the drop on his opponent, even when he doesn't want to.

Alec jumps when the door opens, but he drops his eyes and resumes brushing his teeth. He's sneaking glances though, in the reflection, watching for the threat of attack, and it's not surprising that he clearly thinks he won't win, but Eliot's suddenly disgusted to realize that Alec's expecting it. That he's _resigned_ to it.

Alec already has the mouthwash in hand when he spits the toothpaste out, but sneaks a few words in before tipping the bottle back. "Didn't want to." And he can't continue with a mouth full of liquid, but Eliot waits, instead.

Eliot's been backed into corners more than once, too, most of them worse than tonight.

And he's done worse things to get out of them.

Eliot walks out and across, over to Alec's room, and brings back a change of clothes. He doesn't watch him dress, but doesn't leave the room, either.

It's a little easier to look at him when he's dressed as himself again, but it's not easier to talk. He tries anyway. "You okay?"

Alec's wary, but he nods. "All things considered, but. Look. I'm _sorry_ , I-"

"It's alright." And it's not, not entirely, but it's better than it was five minutes ago, so he tries a grin. He needs to find out if Alec will smile back.

The results aren't anything to write home about, though.  Alec edges around Eliot, carefully not touching him, as he heads out into the kitchen. By the time Eliot catches up, he's got two beers open, holding one of them out.

"So, uh. Don't know where to start, here," Eliot tries, after they spend a moment drinking in what at least  _looked_ like companionable silence.

Alec's answering smirk is genuine, this time, but he's been taken off guard, and it's a little bitter. "Me neither," he takes a breath, and suddenly it's Eliot's time to be surprised. "Are we through?"

Eliot's been ready to yell, to argue, to punch a hole in the wall, but he hasn't been the one who's been ready to _leave_. Hadn't even _thought_ about it, and he's just realizing it now.

"No!" Shaking his head, he tries again, trying not to reveal so much, but the chicken's flown the coop on that one. "I mean, not unless you-"

"I _don't_ ," Alec insists, and his posture eases a bit, but there's more coming. "I just. _Look_. I didn't know what else to do, and I know it's messed up and I should have _thought_ of something, should've been able to get clear, but if she made that call-"

"I know, man, I know." Eliot sighs, forces himself to take a drink.  "You did what you had to do. Not sayin' I _like_ it... and I wouldn't expect Nate to be putting you out into play any time soon, but..." He's never wanted to say it out loud, but it's the only thing he can think of. Now that they're all coming clean, here.  

"I've killed my way out of corners, you just-" And suddenly, he realizes that he _doesn't_ know what happened, not really. Alec had gone off comms.

There's a flash of hope, for a second, the chance that this could all be some huge misunderstanding, but Alec's face has gone grim, and it's a stupid thing, to need details, because they're _here_ and it's _fine_ , but in another moment or two, they might not be.

"We had sex," Alec's talking to the floor. "Um. Used a condom."

The admission hangs in the air, ridiculous, while Eliot tries to figure out what he's supposed to do with it.  What he's supposed to be feeling, what he's supposed to say next. Part of him's still waiting for Alec's to jump back, laughing, saying it was a joke, and crow about how he'd _totally had him going_ , but the silence only lengthens.

Eliot has to get this right. Wracks his brain for the right words, thinks he has them, but what comes out instead is a muted "Did you like it?"

Alec's words are measured, when he answers, careful as he cringes around them. "Well enough that to sell the part, not enough to get off." He takes a breath, and he's about to start rambling past the admission, get some distance and dig his way out, or worse, go into detail, so Eliot steps deliberately into his space and tries to look reassuring.

"That's all I needed to know," he says, and it's a lie, he knows it, but he's learning to lie for the right reasons, these days.

In a move that reminds him of Parker, Alec's backing away from him, incrementally, and he can't tell if it's just to get a better look at him, or if he's trying to escape. He reaches the counter soon enough, though, his bottle hitting the cabinet loudly.

"Hey," Alec's saying, forcing Eliot to tear his eyes back up to meet his own, which are suspicious, a little disbelieving. "You serious?"

"Yeah," he says, because long before he learned to do it for the right reasons, he'd know how to lie. The word's 99 percent true, anyway.

 _But there's still that one percent_ , and Alec probably knows it, too. They both need some convincing, and neither of them have ever been particularly great with words when they actually mattered.

This time, when he steps forward, Alec moves to meet him, but his hands waver, uncertain. He doesn't know what he's allowed to take, right now, and Eliot's not entirely sure either, but he's been a thief for years. Chances, he'll take.

He curves his free hand around Alec's neck, pulls him down just a bit, and wraps his other hand around his waist, trying not to spill the beer. Alec's set his own bottle aside by the time his hesitating hands find Eliot's shoulders, but by then, he's already leaning in.

The kiss lands near Eliot's mouth, but it's not close enough, it's not answering anything at all, so he tilts his head to chase Alec's lips, and then he catches them.

They taste like mint, even before the kiss deepens, and he wants to force beer and coffee and garlic and half a pack of cigarettes down Alec's throat, just to stop him from tasting so clean, to get rid of the reminder.

It feels like Alec's already using _him_ for the exact same purpose. His hands slide to grasp at his biceps before he leans back out of the kiss, but he's not letting go, and when he looks at Eliot his gaze is intent. He's not hiding anything, not even a little bit. He's not even trying, and it's making him look nervous.

"I _do_ love you. Um. In case you were wondering."

" _That's_ all I needed to know," Eliot smirks, and when he pulls Alec back down, he means _You too. Jerk._


End file.
